Chapter Four: Abducted, Foreboding Difficulties

The walk had gone on for hours.

This world was magical, that was certain after seeing Vein but damn, it was like a maze.

Waynev grumbled.

The forests were mostly the same, except for the odd howl or grumble of the ground which felt like an earthquake but after half an hour of walking the grumbles dissipated as Waynev realised they were from a creature.

It seemed most animals avoided the stream rather than drink from it, any monster's she thought would appear have thankfully stayed hidden… so far at least.

Her fists and bucket wouldn't leave a mark, not with these stats.

The journey so far wasn’t all bad, due to a fortunate realisation.

Waynev, was thankful her dad bought the book Dangerous Book for girls when she was a kid.

Originally there had just been one book, the Dangerous Book for boys, but after people protested about their only being a book for the boys, the author made one for girls as well.

It was nearly a duplicate however it included valuable self-defence skills she had used not only on the Rat but on Thomas as well. It also included how to survive in the wild, make knots, test if forage was edible, how to make a fire AND a campsite from nothing!

Exactly what she needed in her three day journey.

Waynev earlier had found berry bushes and tracks. The berries she tested by rubbing on her forearm had unfortunately been either poisonous or allergic to her since she already had a red rash forming.

The tracks, on the other hand, led up a tree and disappeared.

"Let's cross looking for meat off the list for now," Shadow remarked glumly.

"At least until we have tools, otherwise it’ll take longer than we have."

Which stopped Waynevs attempts at having a squirrel or some other small cute animal for lunch, time was money or in this case… an arm and she couldn’t waste it.

Quest:

Meet the inhabitants on Temporous.

Meet up to one friendly inhabitant of Temporous. Meet up to one hostile inhabitant of Temporous.

Consequence:

One of your forearms will be taken.

Time Limit:

Two days, Seventeen hours, 22 minutes remaining.

Given a time-limit made her reach for reserves she didn’t know she had.

Despite her lower back, legs, and feet aching and bleeding slightly from blisters, Waynev trudged onwards with Shadow providing insights while peering around her peripheral vision.

At the downward slope ahead of her and the river to her right, the tree's had started to thin, but more rugged bushes, filled with spiky twigs and leaves were filling in the gaps.

She had found this out by accidentally falling into one and nearly ripping the left side of her shirt to ribbons.

“Huh.” Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Waynev did a double take.

Further down the stream, her eyes played a trick on her.

They seemed to show a seven feet black furred hunchback man, yet despite his size the man's limbs were only as thick as some of the driftwood Waynev spotted in the stream.

Looking closer at him, entranced by his otherworldly looks and raven shaped body Waynev noticed his pointed head beginning to scan the surroundings.

Still entranced by his aura Waynev stood in wait, almost paralysed.

“Huh… Why is he so-” Shadow’s voice barely an echo, the figure in the distance was overriding any kind of distraction.

His eyes, scouring the dense bush, were coming her way but not as soon as she wanted she pleaded.

That was until shadows covered his body and he was gone.

Snapped out of the hallucination Waynev looked around frantically, suddenly she could feel her body again.

Her heart was beating wildly and her breaths that were caught in her throat suddenly came in full-burst, letting herself fall to the ground she looked up.

“What is this blasphemy?”

Waynev would’ve laughed at Shadow’s rare humour if she weren’t panicking, she was seconds away from-

Again, she was enraptured as another beast.

No another monster fell from above, beyond the tree line.

Too fast to track all she could see was the black shimmering figure ripping violently into it's scaled neck.

Eyes tracked it's every move until she saw the pattern.

“I can’t look away, Shadow it’s hide… it's form, it’s doing somethin-'' Whispering desperately to Shadow, Waynev hoped for a plan or solution to form as her eyes kept following the monstrous raven.

Until they came.

Two figures appeared in Waynev’s peripheral vision allowing her eyes a break for a blissful moment until all hell broke loose.

Despite their approach to it’s back and the unending stream of plants acting as cover it noticed their appearance with lightning speed.

Each pair held a coloured gem as they used their feet to brace, only for the mighty foe to turn tail and shimmer in bla-

Grabbing at it's legs strong roots leapt from the brown soil ripping it from it’s veil of shadows into sight, clawing at the roots proved fruitless as the other man pointed his blue gem as his other hand was animatedly gesturing towards the water.

As the waterworks began to form long tendrils, the creature broke free and advanced towards the prone targets, aggressively clawing one of their arms clean off-

With matrix-like reflexes the man with the green ejected out of the space upwards into the numerous trees.

Roots seemingly sprawled from his bare legs yet the creature didn’t stop it's assault.

Clawing with it's misshapen limbs towards the target just out of reach until the water tendrils finally began their assault on the creature's back.

First lashing then pulling the creature from the numerous roots the figure shimmered again but instead of the beautiful shroud that covered it thousands of black veins began encasing his figure.

Longer, fiercer, the water tendrils grew with each lash until finally they ripped their target free from the heavens and towards the ground below.

With speeds Waynev could barely fathom, it fell from above the trees, branches falling alongside it and still accelerating as the water tendrils grew in size closer to the stream.

Slamming the grotesque engorged raven into the stream the tendrils began diving under forcing it down.

The beast wasn’t to be overwhelmed however as the many tendrils couldn’t hold the raven it clawed upwards screeching down a lungful of air just to be met with branches and thousands of needles stabbing it back down.

His partner back and his roots acting as a shackle to hold the beast down.

It screamed it's frustrations to an uncaring element.

To an uncaring world.

Water began encasing it further as it's movements slowed and with it the raven’s body began turning back into its former state, smaller, weaker.

Until finally it’s struggles ended.

Waynev watched her mouth open, now very happy that she was sitting and hidden in the flora.

Unable to move her breaths were small as she watched the figure with the blue gem grab a small jewel encased bag and somehow stuff the creature's body inside in less than a moment.

They looked to each other before the other brought out a purple stone and smashed it.

The last thing Waynev noticed about them was their robes blue and green tinted robes before they disappeared in a flash of purple.

“...They were...”

Speechless, but amazed.

That being was seconds from finding them, deers in a headlight, Waynev wouldn’t have stood a chance.

Yet it was easily killed, were they the ranked that Vein described?

“Whatever that was,” She spoke with a sense of wanting.

“Whoever they were,” She closed her eyes picturing them.

“It’s only going to get crazier, we need to advance ranks.” Opening her eyes she jumped up.

Her legs jarring her but she jogged towards the monster’s last moments.

"This river split twice so far,” A familiar voice intoned as she kept up her pace, failing the quest out of laziness wasn’t an option.

“I'm betting that we should be able to reach some kind of shelter before it gets dark," Shadow mentioned to Waynev, who was still brushing off the occasional twig, leaf or unfortunate insect that found their way on her.

"At the cross-streams, we followed where most of the river ran. But did we go the right way?" Waynev ruminated on their past decision.

"Having to turn back after walking so long could be what kills us." She grimaced.

It had been a downhill journey, trying to fast-walk uphill would've taken days longer.

"Also have you found out anything about how to use the magic Vein gave us?" Waynev asked, shrugging off the possible disaster.

"Since the last time you asked…" Shadow thought back five minutes.

"Absolutely-" Her tone high-

"-Not" Shadow's tone told more of her annoyance than anything.

"As I've explained, I can only feel bits and pieces… only when you're nodding off or resting." Shadow repeated the lie she told Waynev.

"Huh, well it's better than what I've found out." Pointing out that Waynev still knew close to nothing in the way of her magic abilities.

"Well, at least you were right about us being teleported to Temporous in the morning." Waynev looked up to the sky, hand covering her the top of her eyes as she rested her legs.

"Don't stop walking for too long, I'm pretty sure with the number of breaks we've taken we should be able to keep going for a few more hours." Shadow reminded.

“I know, you don’t need to micromanage. In fact please don’t it’s annoying.” Waynev looked ahead, missing technology more by the minute.

"I think we're roughly thirty minutes to an hour off." Telling Waynev, she adjusted the watch for the umpteenth time today while following the stream.

“Thomas…” Waynev angrily thought before calming.

“I wonder how they reacted when they found the body?” Waynev chuckled at the dark humour.

“Knowing his lackies? They ran away and probably called the police after crying to their parents.” The cold remark did no damage however.

She knew their tendencies.

“Elise on the other hand…”

“She’ll get better.” Shadow’s reply was instantaneous, as if waiting for the question.

“She was scared he'd come back but… she’s a realist. Now that he’s dead, even Elise will have to admit to herself her fears are unjustified.”

“She definitely will get better.” Shadow interjected, more to herself than Waynev.

“Mmm. Maybe.” Her hopes were the same as Shadows but unlike Shadow Waynev’s view of what had been done was unfixable.

Pushing the thoughts out of mind the walk went silent again.

So far, the two had expected more hostile races and monsters.

Also Magic beyond their belief and hopefully an institution, or school of some kind to teach them magic or at least how to raise their stats.

However her stats hadn't changed.

Much.

Current Status:

Agility:

1.1 → 1.15AH

Strength:

0.7 → 0.8AH

Vitality:

0.9 → 0.95AH

Wisdom:

1AH

Mana:

(Locked)

"The hard work is its own reward-" Shadow's voice crinkled with-

"-pff just kidding. This, this is terrible." Her laugh ended with a darker tone, voice hinting at the current chances of her surviving.

Waynev trudged along as felt at her belt, the bucket wouldn't fall off anytime soon.

tretching her neck, keeping her tired eyes open, she saw a bluish bush in the distance.

Noticing some more berries up ahead, Waynev didn't need to hear Shadow telling her to test the berries, as she repeated the method of rubbing the berry on her skin while putting the ripe ones in her bucket.

Waynev continued her walk, hoping these berries could be eaten, she walked until the bright rays that used to blind her eventually went down far enough that it was time to set up camp.

The place the two had found was amazing.

Done in such a way where there was a small open area around the boulder, enough to fit her laying down and still being protected from the eyes of animals or rat-monsters.

Slightly away from the river, the boulder stood tall even with erosion and roots claiming it.

However, the noise of the water and sounds of insects was still barely visible in the background.

Waynev noticed she had become accustomed to the constant hum of the forest while listening if anything was nearby.

"The chance of anyone or anything finding us is low at least." Shadow pointed out the apparent secludedness of the camp helped numb Waynev's feelings, as she munched on some of the blue berries she found earlier, which turned out not to be poisonous.

The blue berries Waynev found shouldn't be confused with blueberries from her world. However, these berries were indeed blue but had smaller berries growing around them, causing them to look like some poor kids' acne gone awry… and bluer.

At least they tasted nice, like crunchy juicy sweets.

Waynev half mumbled half crunching the blue berries and their smaller blue baby berries.

"At least the boulder is a bit hollow, I could fill it with leaves and use my shirt as a blanket…" Waynev glumly gestured at the small hole shaped into the boulder, enough space to keep her out of sight although only if she curled up.

Gathering nearby leaves and the unfortunate clumps of grass, Waynev's makeshift shelter was looking better. She began organising them into a small cushion and using the softer yet more malleable clusters of organic material as a sort of mat to lie on.

Waynev giggled thinking back at the years she and Elise would take the lessons learned from their father's books and using it to create knots, small shelters and even a fire at one point… though without the instructions to create a fire she would be left waggling a stick for a few hours.

Something that she wasn't looking forward to and actively avoiding whenever Shadow brought up the benefits of cooking her berries. "More like charring them," Waynev mumbled, finishing up the last corner of her mat she laid down on her small albeit temporary home.

Checking her watch she saw the time was 7:14, so early she grimaced but darker than she could see her eyes barely perceiving the treetops now.

The moon was beginning to rise, but it wasn't anything resembling a half or even full moon.

"Let's hope this world's rotation is the same as hours; otherwise, this night could last a lot longer than we prepared for." Shadow whispered to Waynev.

Who was still looking up at the sky, her little shelter seeming more comfortable the longer she lay.

"Think we should gather some twigs and more leaves to try and make a fire?" Waynev wondered still a bit upset at both Shadow and herself forgetting about such a primal need.

“Sight. It would help in flight but would the light attract an unwanted plight?” Shadow mused.

Waynev came to the same line of thought, the need for a reprieve seemed more and more critical compared to gathering supplies for a fire she couldn't light.

“We need sleep Waynev, the quest is ticking and we don’t have time to think anymore. It’s time for rest.”

For once Shadow wasn't being a bane to Waynev's existence, actually ever since she came to Temporous, Shadow's been nothing if not kind and supportive of her.

It was a welcome change but brought her own suspicions.

Closing her eyes, she felt like Shadow was behind them, boring into her.

Well, it isn't Elise or Mom, but at least Shadow's making me feel better after a crappy day, Waynev thought, stretching her neck.

Feeling calmer and more than ready to have the day finished she stopped leaning on the boulder and went down to nature's soft bed.

Lying down she couldn’t help but feel her jeans for her phone.

“Not having Netflix at night is going to suck.”

Waynev curled up before sleep was too tempting to dismiss any longer.

A forest of silence was her wish, instead the night was anything but silent.

Shadow had noticed that although she couldn't use her power of Telepathy, during the day, she could feel a pulse of something in Waynev.

Her magic activated something in her, while Waynev slept, unaware.

She began testing her power, pulling and pushing what must've been minuscule amounts of mana or magic around Waynev's body. With each slow autonomous pull and push Shadow began to feel more, notice more of Waynev's body, it's nerves, heartbeat and eventually even the tickling of the twigs and leaves against her skin, thankfully her bra protected her breasts from the onslaught. Shadow mulled, otherwise this discovery couldn't have been made!

Shadow could already imagine tomorrow at dawn, Shadow telling Waynev excitedly telling her about her new po-

She stopped and considered the prospect of… not telling Waynev.

If she could feel more and more of Waynev's body, perhaps controlling it wouldn't be too far off.

A devious grin slowly formed on Waynev's lips, telling Shadow all she needed to know about her capabilities and Waynev's future.

Shadow now tried to stay awake with a passion, at first to watch for wolves after hearing the howls but now… to explore and gain power.

Shadow, immersed herself deeper in Waynev's body again, not disturbing the host's gentle snoring coo's.

Beginning from the head, Shadow started to imagining herself more like a coat of moisturiser or hot water, slowly pushing forward to the torso, through the arm's, the tingling fingertips her stopping point as she continued down through the belly button.

Now feeling Waynev's chest move slightly and also noticing the itchy almost ticklish brush agitating yet keeping her warm through each breathe.

Moving downwards further, through the thighs to the knees, Shadow could nearly feel the heartbeat move from her neck to her shins.

Waynev's 'consciousness' finally encompassed the soles as well, Shadow was fully and supremely aware of everything happening to Waynev, not just from her eyes and ears but through the entire body.

It felt good. It felt aspiring. It felt melancholy defying.

To have a body.

Not her own.

But this was only the beginning.

She could literally feel it.

Slowly opening Waynev's eyes, Shadow could see farther than far. Throughout the forest into the sky and !

Nothing.

The skies were still melancholy.

And the forest around her was still just a jumble of barely visible leaves, trees and vines.

The white boulder she was resting under was slightly brighter due to the pale blue moonlight that shone off of it.

It was special, even if the skies and heavens were unreactive to Shadow's new purpose, it didn't matter.

What did matter was what she thought.

Self-confidence came from within, not without.

Emotions came like waves from the sea, finally feeling them she understood what many humans did not.

Her impressions coloured the world, tonight would be worth celebrating for years while for others, the cold air would mean an uncomfortable night.

Even feeling these base emotions and the calling for sleep, Shadow was upset.

A slight upset to her though couldn't stop her attitude shining like the sun despite the darkness around her, the obstacles around her.

The goals she had to reach to become herself. To become alive. To become free.

The cost of preparation, measured now in time, later in blood.

Shadow knew her purpose in coming to this new world, she would escape Waynev, help Elise and go return home.

All she needed to do was make Waynev slowly dependent on her, to the point where she doesn't question the need for going to sleep early… Finding books on Telepathy… Or making a human body to transfer to...

But for now, the day's burden finally was affecting Shadow, despite her emotions keeping them at bay.

Still feeling the aches of the day, Shadow slowly peered around her eyes and body more in sync than ever before.

Before sensing something… more.

Shadow could sense them, albeit barely.

Small signatures of living beings around her from flies to what she guessed was a mosquito, small outlines of red, barely perceivable.

Closing Waynev's eyes and resting her head back on the makeshift bed, Shadow gleefully smiled.

Waynev's eyes even slightly wrinkled at the giddiness and happiness Shadow felt at being real.

Then at being tired.

And then Shadow didn't think anymore.

A crowded room, brimming with clothes, books and haphazardly placed sculptures.

Somewhere under it all a person was hidden.

The sculptures were made from clay to bronze yet all broken in some way.

Some were missing an arm.

Other’s clothes.

One, instead of missing anything was holding a small bottle with the woman’s melancholy expression telling the story.

The last sculpture was painted red.

Her entire body, interlined with the gruesome colour except.

Her heart.

Elise lay in the mess of clothes, wearing a large shirt while mindlessly peering at the small screen.

Her eyes wandered upwards as she noticed the time from the metallic reminder on her wall.

3:07AM

It was the only part of the room that wasn’t pilfered with clothes and more unorganised than Waynev used to be.

Waynev.

Elise’s blue eyes closed at her sister's name.

The cold surrounding her was no longer her imagination, as she thought back to summer hoping for the heat and her sisters, her friend to come back.

Her eyes stung already wanting what she could not give more of.

It had been months with no sign of Waynev after Karma’s Grace.

The event where Thomas was found dead in the old storehouses Waynev and I used to play games as kids, away from people who thought she was crazy.

His dead body was the catalyst for teens all over Sydney to come out about his… abuse.

Elise’s breath caught and she closed her laptop screen.

This wasn’t about Tom.

This was about Waynev.

A goodbye to Waynev.

Wherever she’d gone, Elise still hoped she would come back but…

“If, “ She spoke in a whisper despite the desolate house.

“If she hasn’t already come back. Maybe, she doesn’t want to-” Her voice caught and eyes began blinking rapidly, the conclusion was the only answer.

“-come back to a broken me.”

The clothes, the sculptures, the books.

All of them meant something to her but now?

They felt childish.

They felt alien.

Sliding out of bed Elise pulled her hair back, ruffled and not in it's normal pony tail was uncomfortable for a few weeks but now it sat naturally.

Walking over to her desk, buried under the mountains of clothes one spot was untouched.

Her picture.

Picking up the frame, she removed the photo and tucked it away in her crowded draws.

If Waynev didn’t want to come back, then what was the point in keeping the dying memories.

With a sleight of hand she slammed the draw shut and began piecing her life back together.

One fabric at a time.